The brigade was raised from garrison troops stationed in North Africa in 1938. When the Mobile Division became
7th Armoured Division, the Light Armoured Brigade became the
7th Armoured Brigade in February 1940. The 7th Armoured Division had a red
jerboa (a nocturnal rodent indigenous to
North Africa) as its emblem and became known as "The Desert Rats". The 7th Armoured Brigade, meanwhile, had a green jerboa as its emblem. The 7th Brigade became known as the "Green Rats" or the "Jungle Rats" after it moved to Burma in 1942. After being briefly converted to "Task Force Alpha" in the late 1970s, the brigade was reinstated in 1981, assigned to the
1st Armoured Division again and was based at Bournemouth Barracks in
Soltau.
Kuwait and Iraq The 7th Armoured Brigade returned to the desert when it arrived in
Saudi Arabia in October 1990 as part of
Operation Granby, intended to protect Saudi Arabia from invasion by
Saddam Hussein's
Iraq. It included the
Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, the
Queen's Royal Irish Hussars and 1st Battalion,
The Staffordshire Regiment. The brigade, commanded by Brigadier
Patrick Cordingley, later took part in the
Coalition of the Gulf War ground campaign to liberate Iraqi-occupied
Kuwait on 24 February 1991 that began after a sustained air campaign. The Desert Rats, along with the rest of the 1st Armoured Division, carried out a left-hook manoeuvre that swung round the
Iraqi Republican Guard. The brigade advanced deep into Iraqi territory, encountering some armour of the Republican Guard. The ground campaign formally ended on 28 February with the liberation of Kuwait achieved.
Balkans The brigade moved to Campbell Barracks at
Hohne (Germany) in 1993. From there the brigade deployed to
Bosnia in May 1994 as part of the
NATO IFOR peacekeeping organisation. The brigade returned for another tour-of-duty in April 1997, joining IFOR's
NATO replacement known as
SFOR. After the
Kosovo War in 1999, the 7th Armoured Brigade returned to the
Balkans for a tour-of-duty in
Kosovo in 2000, based in the capital
Pristina.
Iraq Just before
Operation Telic began (Britain's contribution to the
2003 invasion of Iraq), the brigade, commanded by Brigadier
Graham Binns, moved to Kuwait where it undertook extensive training and was "desertised" for service in the Middle East. The brigade, consisting of 112
Challenger 2 tanks, 140
Warriors and 32
AS-90 155 mm self-propelled howitzers, entered Iraq on 21 March. The main objective of the Desert Rats was to advance towards Iraq's second largest city,
Basra, and help encircle and isolate it. The brigade, led by the 1st Fusiliers Battlegroup, made a rapid advance towards the city and soon reached its outskirts, securing
Basra Airport and the critical bridges across the
Shatt al-Arab. The advance by the brigade met sporadic though fierce resistance, with The Queen's Royal Irish Hussars, including an engagement between 14 Challenger 2s of the
Royal Scots Dragoon Guards and 14 Iraqi tanks, all of the Iraqi tanks being destroyed. Initially the brigade was faced by very spirited but un-coordinated attacks from Basra and in the town of Az Zubayr. These attacks were initially orchestrated by members of the Iraqi secret police, who used violence and threats against family members to coerce men to attack the Desert Rats and other elements of the 1st Armoured Division. As their influence waned, so did the frequency and ferocity of the Iraqi attacks. The 1st Armoured Division, including 7th Brigade, then undertook a number of raids into the city against specific targets, but in a plan that was very patient bided their time on the outskirts of Basra. On 6 April the Desert Rats, led by Challenger 2s of the
Royal Scots Dragoon Guards,
Queen's Royal Lancers and
2nd Royal Tank Regiment with Warriors of the 1st Fusiliers,
Irish Guards and
Black Watch pushed into the city on 6 April and stayed. They met sporadic resistance from Iraqi soldiers and irregulars known as
Fedayeen. Basra was, for the most part, now controlled by 1st Division though further engagements did take place. The war was officially declared over on 1 May. The Desert Rats remained in Iraq after the war, acting as peacekeepers and helping to rebuild the country while based in the British sector in the south of Iraq. The brigade began to leave in late June 2003, being replaced by
19th Mechanised Brigade. Between October 2005 and May 2006 the brigade deployed to Iraq again for Operation Telic 7 under the command of Brigadier
Patrick Marriott.
Afghanistan In 2011, some elements of the brigade deployed to Afghanistan. In October 2013, 7th Armored Brigade deployed to Afghanistan's Helmand Province, Kandahar, and Kabul.
Reorganization On 5 March 2013, the British
Secretary of State for Defence,
Philip Hammond, announced that the 7th Armoured Brigade would have its
Challenger 2 tanks and heavy armoured battalions removed over the next decade. Although the brigade itself was re-designated as an infantry brigade, it retains its famed "Desert Rats" insignia. It forms part of the Adaptable Force under
Army 2020. The decision was met with regret by former 7th Armoured Brigade commander
Patrick Cordingley, who said that the "changes would still dismay veterans and the general public". On 14 November 2014, the brigade formally stepped out of its armour role into that of an infantry brigade as
7th Infantry Brigade. ==Brigade composition==